Reclaiming Androgyny & The Text Book Definition

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by June

I was thinking about what androgyny means to me -- When I hear the word, I think of someone who is more comfortable using that term than Butch, Femme or even "Soft Butch" or "Femmy". I know we use it derisively a lot as in "Oh, yeah, she was kind of cute, but too adro for me".

Which is pretty dismissive and judgemental as well as binary reflective.

I think it might get misused as well, for instance, someone describing a long haired, self ID'd Butch as "Andro" just because their visual presentation is different than the "norm". The same could happen with a short haired self ID'd Femme, too.

Maybe we need a "Hair" re-make? Speaking of the play- and how it reflected what was going on in that era. What would it look like now?

So strange- I think that andro can be used as you state- many don't want to use butch or femme. Although, I use butch, I feel androgynous as it has been understood for a long time- and it isn't gender neutral- it is about merging and interweaving. It also has significance in Native cultures and things like Two Spirit. Obviously, androgyny is significant to those identifying as 3rd Gendered or to Transpeople as well as Butches or Femmes.